Coral Reef Ecosystem

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CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS
by FREYJA JAYNE
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Animals in a coral reef

• In a coral reef there are many sorts of animals
  such as Angel Fish, Jelly Fish, Scorpion Fish,
  Sea Anemone, Hermit Crabs, Star Fish, Sea Horses,
  Barracuda, Silver Tip Shark, Sponge, Mandarin
  Fish, Clown Fish (picture beside), Octopus, Sting
  Rays and many, many more.

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Plants and Vegetation

• The animals that make coral belong to the same
  animal family as the hydras, jellyfish, and sea
  anemones. Most individual coral animals, called
  polyps, are less than 2.5 centimeters (1 inch)
  in diameter, but a small percentage measure as
  much as 1 foot (2.5 centimeters). A coral polyp
  has a cylinder-shaped body. At one end is a
  mouth surrounded by tiny tentacles. The other
  end attaches to the limestone skeletons of dead
  polyps.

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The Climate

• Coral reefs are found usually in warm, shallow,
  and tropical seas, because the reef-forming
  corals cannot live in water cooler than 18
  degrees C (65 degrees F).

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The Location of Coral Reefs
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Bibliography

• World Book Multimedia 1998

• World Geography (Second Canadian Edition) 1989
• http//www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR/coralhome.htm
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